The present invention relates in general to mat covered vehicle floors and, more particularly, to a floorboard arrangement for vehicles wherein flexible mats are secured to rigid floor panels by means of ribs on side edges of the mats which engage channels on the side edges of floor panels, preferably without the use of adhesives. While the invention is generally applicable, it will be described herein with reference to materials handling vehicles for which it is initially being used.
A materials handling vehicle, such as a fork lift truck, includes a floor which an operator's feet engage during standing or seated operation of the vehicle and upon entry into and egress from the vehicle. These floors are typically formed from metal and covered with a flexible mat. The mat provides some amount of cushioning, which can be important for vehicles operated from a sitting position as well as a standing or perched (partially standing) position, and also provides improved footing. Thus, prior art mats have been installed onto the upper surfaces of metal vehicle floors to provide these benefits while the operator is in the vehicle. Typically, the mats are secured to the floors by adhesives or pull tabs.
When stepping into the vehicle, commonly an operator will step onto a corner edge of the floor. Accordingly, it is desirable to extend the mat over the corner edge of the floor to provide at least improved traction when the corner is engaged by operators' feet. While floor mats adhesively secured to a flat upper surface of a floor normally perform satisfactorily and provide long mat life, unfortunately when a mat is adhered around a corner of a floor, even if the floor corner is rounded, the mat tends to separate from the floor and oftentimes requires early repair or replacement. An additional problem is encountered during production of the vehicles since the gluing operation requires substantial time and effort which can cause delays on a modern day production line. When pull-tabs alone are used to secure floor mats to the upper surface of a floor, there is currently no way to wrap the mat around the floor edge without having it separate from the floor.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved floorboard for vehicles, such as materials handling vehicles, wherein a mat can be secured quickly to a floor panel, preferably without the use of adhesives. It is desirable that the improved floorboard also provide matted floor corner edges which would provide the known benefits without the problems encountered with prior art matted floorboards.